Native Americans

Reservations

Indigenous

Classified​

​Declassification

​

​

Vocabulary

Objective and Vocabulary

Essential Question: What are the social changes experienced by Native Americans during WWII, and how did they impact future events?

Objective

​Students will demonstrate understanding of the social changes that Native American peoples experienced during WWII by engaging in discussion and producing original content on the subject.

One-third of all able-bodied Native American men from 18 to 50, 10% of the total Native American population, would serve in WWII. This was the first large scale movement of indigenous peoples from the reservations since the 19th century.

​

Military Service

• Native Americans served on all fronts and earned medals and honors including: Purple Hearts, Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bronze Stars, Silver Stars, Air Medals, Distinguished Service Crosses, and Congressional Medals of Honor.​

• ​​Native American troops were generally highly regarded by their fellow soldiers and considered superior warriors in several aspects. While this meant they were usually respected, it also meant they were often given the most dangerous jobs such as scouting and tracking.

​

​While many Indigenous nations do have warrior traditions, they are often stereotyped as the defining trait of their culture. Many nations are pacifistic in nature, and those tribes with warrior traditions balance them with traditions of peace and diplomacy.

Service and Honors.

​

• ​​Native Americans served the US government in many capacities during WWII. One unique contribution they made to the war effort was the code talkers.

• Code talkers were indigenous soldiers who were fluent in both their ​tribal language and English who sent secret messages encoded in their language so the enemy could not get information about allied troop movement.​

• The most famous of the code talkers were the Navajo code talkers. The Navajo language had no written form and was only known by those who lived amongst the Navajo. As a result the Navajo codes went unbroken.

The Navajo code talker program was classified until 1968 as, due to its success, the govt. wanted it to be able to be used in future wars. It wasn't until 2001 that they would receive congressional gold medals, mostly posthumously, in recognition of their service.

​The Code Talkers

The masses of Native people serving during WWII lead to a resurgence of tribal practices that had been banned in the past such as protection ceremonies, prayer vigils and carrying of tribal medicine into battle. The Lakota from the Standing Rock Reservation held the first Sun Dance in 52 years, to pray for the destruction of German and Japanese soldiers and the safe return of 2,000 of their soldiers.

A Resurgence of Tradition

After the War

​As many Native American men would return home they would soon find them facing a whole new set of restrictions on traditional tribal communities. ​They would not have a civil rights protest movement until around the 1970's. Even to this day Native peoples are still fighting for land rights, the preservation of sacred sites, the repatriation of stolen artifacts, and the restoration of traditional food items